HYDERABAD: The South Central Railway conducted a three-day special campaign at all railway stations in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad for popularising the use of Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) among rail passengers.
During the campaign, railway Officials contacted passengers standing in the queue in booking offices and explained them the benefits of purchasing tickets through ATVMs. Pamphlets explaining step by step procedure of obtaining tickets through ATVMs were also distributed.
The special campaign has elicited enthusiastic response from the passengers. On a normal day, the smart cards sale is around 70 per day. But, during the drive period, 230 cards were sold per day representing a growth of 230 percent.
Smart cards have to be first purchased and making use of the smart cards, tickets can be purchased from ATVMs’ installed at all the MMTS stations of twin cities.
By using the smart card, required ticket can be generated in the ATVM in just about half a minute, whereas, in a normal booking office the passenger has to wait in long queues, specially during morning and evening rush hours.
The railways also gives 5 per cent bonus on smart cards. If a passenger buys tickets worth `1000, the person will get a bonus of `50. Rail users of twin cities are urged to make use of ATVMs’ and “save time and save money ”.